Big day today! It's the first Bird Swap of the year, which, in case you didn't know, is about WAY more than birds. It's pretty much a farm sale held at the fairgrounds. You'll be able to find just about any animal you are looking for and even some you weren't expecting. I saw baby alligators there once. It's wild and crazy fun! Last year we got there at 5:30 am in the middle of a thunderstorm, lightning flashing and in the dark we were holding flashlights and umbrellas peering into the cages and pens to see what people were selling. The place was PACKED! The first swap of the year is particularly exciting because everyone has had more time to prepare and there will be lots to see. It's a way for folks to sell their surplus and gather what they need. It's a great place to make contacts and to assess the competition. It's less intimidating than an auction, more personal and laid back. The busiest time is before 8:00 am, sleep in and you'll miss it. Farmer Tom did that once, that was the day I brought home Bella, our livestock guard dog. He forgave me. :)

Anyway, even though there are some major players, it's really a small town affair and a way to bring in some much needed cash for the homesteaders in the area. If you have a small farm, like us, it can be incredibly expensive to build infrastructure, purchase livestock, feed and provide housing. Here's an example. Two years ago we started with our first chicks. About 60 bucks or so. We built a brooder from scrap wood, so no cost there. Not bad, right? Then we started to retrofit a shed into a chicken coop. Spent a few hundred dollars on that. We ended up building a chicken tractor instead. Spent about five hundred there. We fed the chickens for about 7 months before we got our first egg. Total cost for that egg? About $1,000. This is called chicken math. It makes no sense, unless you are the participant, in which case you wear a protective shield so that you won't be harmed by the powerful and destructive TRUTH of your situation.

Once the shock of that wears off, if you are like me, you are determined to work your way back into the black. Or, at least, the appearance of such. So, we have chickens. They make more chickens. They lay eggs. How do you work with that?

1. We have all the free range wholesome eggs we can eat. At $3.50 a dozen at the grocery, we save about $10 a month.2. This year we have surplus eggs that we will sell. 8-10 dozen a month, so $30 dollars or so.3. We raise our roosters for meat. Each bird yields about 3 lbs of meat. We butcher a couple dozen for ourselves per year. About $300 worth.4. We sell hatching eggs. The best of the best eggs are sold and shipped to buyers around the country who are interested in this very limited breed. Going rate is $25 a dozen. I've sold 4 dozen this year, so far.5. We sell the chicks. For $4 per chick, this weekend's hatch is worth $200.

I know you are wondering how this will make us rich. I'll save you the trouble. It won't. In fact, that was never the point. Our goal was to live more sustainably, eat healthier, be happier. In that, we have been incredibly successful. Break even on the chicken thing? Maybe, some day.Share your farm and garden tips and questions at our FB home, fb.com/thepocketfarmer or find us on Twitter @thepocketfarmer. Hope to see you there! :)

Absolutely love your blog and admire your lifestyle. I hope to get there one day myself.

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Greg

4/7/2013 05:02:50 am

I love that story! Chickens could make money, but it's so much more rewarding to have a few "girls" that are also pets that enrich a lifestyle and reduce our dependence on food raised in an unhealthy manner. Maybe we'll hit the "black". When I hunted deer I realized the venison steak we were having for dinner? It was only about $249.00 a pound. It was a good steak!

We can't take life too seriously, we'll never get out of it alive!

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Tammie

4/7/2013 05:15:03 am

Thanks for the "warning". We've been doing the research and talking to friends and once we move later this year a chicken tractor is in the plans and our first chicks. Glad to know the math ahaead of time, but you're right, its about sustaining, not always profit.

The "house" for your chicks looks really fabulous. I wonder how can I make it? Thank you.

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Hi, I'm Sue Pranskus, and this is my sometime blog. It's mostly about my attempts to "green-up" my life. On our little farm we experiment with livestock, gardening, building, repurposing and anything else that we find interesting. Born and bred on the West Coast, I am living in the Midwest by choice, not circumstance. I have built a life based largely on core values and loosely on whimsy. It's that whimsy, though, that gets me in trouble every time!